Creating a world

Shun Komiyama is a Japanese photographer whose main inspiration is to be found in daily life. Komiyama creates an entire world of colourful portraits, flashed out faces, urban landscapes and every day people. And his world is a beautiful breathtaking one.

What got you interested in photography in the beginning?

I am enthusiastic about walking around unique places. And I was wondering if I got a camera, my journey would be more interesting. This is why I began capturing moments with a camera, taking photos. My interest and enthusiasm for taking pictures kept increasing. Especially after viewing photos taken by “Marcelo Gomes” and “Shoji Ueda”, I wanted to create my own world through my portraits.

How has photography changed your world and they way you look at things?

It’s become my everything.. It’s what I am always thinking about. Everytime I walk through towns in Japan, I have a new perspective on my surroundings. Before I would have just passed through without noticing. I often use pedestrian crossings, traffic signs and billboards as a basis because they are very vivid, simple and have punchy graffics. That’s why I love them. I also draw inspiration from the crowds of people and their expressions as they go about their day, their movements, behavior and the aspects of living a daily life. Everything that comes into my view would be inspiration, so it means I can find it every day as long as I live. I’m really happy about that.

You photograph people, places, fashion. What is closer to your heart and why?

The root is inspiration that comes from the city and daily life as I said before. I’m quite sure that if people see the same thing from the same angle, every person will feel something different. There is approximately 7.2 billion people in the world, so we could say that there are 7.2 billion different perspectives and feelings. So if I collect what I feel and capture it in the most genuine way, these could be my original art works. When focusing on my subject whether it’s the people or landscapes to me it’s important to be honest to the style of photography that I am taking.

What other influences and inspiration are there?

My inspiration is based on distinctive landscape which I find in daily life and sense I feel something strange. Especially Tokyo and Yokohama, these are the best places for me because there is heaps of chaos in such a tight area. The reason why I am like this is because I was born and brought up in such an interesting place. I have been influenced by Marcelo Gomes and Shoji Ueda work. I like their sorrow, the emotion approaching their work, this is my main influence. I also like RJ SHAUGHRNESY’s energetic work. I respect him because his work contains not only happy things but also, as I feel it, an approach that’s focused on “youth disorientation”. I think only he can capture this energy through his work. I haven’t had much influence from other photographers. I’m also moved by other artistic mediums. Such as Edward Hopper and Okyo Maruyama, and the Japanese comic artist Taiyo Matsumoto.

Your colours are very strong in your work. Do you also like to shoot black and white or not?

Of course I like black and white photography and I also think there are a lot of expressions which only monochrome can represent. I like to think about the way we perceive the world through our eyes compared to viewing monochrome photos, with this in mind I go with a different approach when taking black and white pictures. The majority of my photos I prefer to take with color because to me this represents our daily lives and how we see things. At this moment color photos are more suitable for my work.

If you could collaborate with 1 artist (dead or alive), who would you choose?

I’d like to do a collaboration with Taiyo Matsumoto. I’ve been reading his comics since childhood and he has had a strong impact on my world view. He does excellent work with both drawing and writing. I don’t like to write words on my photographs and to make collage with my photographs. However, if I were to work with him i would be so happy for him to draw his characters on my work. He is a great artist, so it must take a long time for his view and characters to come to life.